Ceramic insulator for vacuum interrupters

Abstract

A ceramic insulator for vacuum interrupters extends along a longitudinal extent and forms a cavity in said longitudinal extent. The cavity has a first opening on a first end of the longitudinal extent and a second opening on a second end of the longitudinal extent. The openings are designed so that they can be sealed in a gas-tight manner using appropriate connections. The sealed first opening is designed to guide at least one fixed contact into the cavity, and the sealed second opening is designed to guide at least one moving contact into the cavity. The ceramic insulator has, on an inner face of the cavity, one or multiple electrically conductive discharge path interrupters extending perpendicularly to the longitudinal extent of the ceramic insulator.

The invention claimed is: 
     
       1. A ceramic insulator for vacuum interrupters, the ceramic insulator comprising:
 a base body extending along a longitudinal extent and forming a cavity in the longitudinal extent; 
 said cavity having a first opening on a first side of the longitudinal extent, and a second opening on a second side of the longitudinal extent; 
 connectors sealing said first and second openings in a gas-tight manner to form a sealed first opening and a sealed second opening; 
 said first sealed opening being configured for guiding at least one fixed contact into said cavity, and said sealed second opening being configured for guiding at least one moving contact into said cavity; and 
 one or more electrically conductive discharge path interrupters disposed on an inner face of said cavity, said one or more electrically conductive discharge path interrupters extending perpendicularly to the longitudinal extent of said base body, said one or more electrically conductive discharge path interrupters having an annular and/or convex structure, said one or more electrically conductive discharge path interrupters being a plurality of electrically conductive discharge path interrupters disposed with a clearance of between 5 mm and 50 mm therebetween. 
 
     
     
       2. The ceramic insulator according to  claim 1 , wherein a ceramic of said base body is a one-piece component. 
     
     
       3. The ceramic insulator according to  claim 1 , wherein said one or more electrically conductive discharge path interrupters are formed from at least one material selected from the group consisting of a metal, a cermet and a semiconductor. 
     
     
       4. The ceramic insulator according to  claim 1 , wherein said base body has a cylindrical shape. 
     
     
       5. The ceramic insulator according to  claim 1 , wherein said one or more electrically conductive discharge path interrupters have characteristics of having been formed by a method selected from the group consisting of a metal-plating method, a spraying method, a chemical deposition method, a printing method, a sputtering deposition method and a vapor deposition method. 
     
     
       6. The ceramic insulator according to  claim 5 , wherein said one or more electrically conductive discharge path interrupters are additionally provided with a further metal plating. 
     
     
       7. The ceramic insulator according to  claim 6 , wherein said further metal plating is a metal plating generated by a method selected from the group consisting of a galvanic methods, a chemical deposition method, a printing method, sputtering and vapor deposition. 
     
     
       8. The ceramic insulator according to  claim 1 , which comprises one or more metal platings arranged in said cavity of said base body, said one or more metal platings extending perpendicularly to the longitudinal extent of said base body and having said one or more electrically conductive discharge path interrupters formed or secured thereon. 
     
     
       9. The ceramic insulator according to  claim 1 , wherein said clearance is between 10 mm and 20 mm. 
     
     
       10. The ceramic insulator according to  claim 1 , wherein said base body has an exterior carrying one or more electrically conductive discharge path interrupters, extending perpendicularly to the longitudinal extent of said base body. 
     
     
       11. A vacuum interrupter, comprising the ceramic insulator according to  claim 1 . 
     
     
       12. A ceramic insulator for vacuum interrupters, the ceramic insulator comprising:
 a base body extending along a longitudinal extent and forming a cavity in the longitudinal extent; 
 said cavity having a first opening on a first side of the longitudinal extent, and a second opening on a second side of the longitudinal extent; 
 connectors sealing said first and second openings in a gas-tight manner to form a sealed first opening and a sealed second opening; 
 said first sealed opening being configured for guiding at least one fixed contact into said cavity, and said sealed second opening being configured for guiding at least one moving contact into said cavity; and 
 
       one or more electrically conductive discharge path interrupters disposed on an inner face of said cavity, said one or more electrically conductive discharge path interrupters extending perpendicularly to the longitudinal extent of said base body, said one or more electrically conductive discharge path interrupters having an annular and/or convex structure, said one or more electrically conductive discharge path interrupters being a plurality of electrically conductive discharge path interrupters disposed with a mutual clearance, and an extent of said electrically conductive discharge path interrupters, in a direction of the longitudinal extent, being 5% to 30% of the clearance between said discharge path interrupters in the direction of the longitudinal extent. 
     
     
       13. The ceramic insulator according to  claim 12 , wherein the extent of said electrically conductive discharge path interrupters is 10% to 20% of the mutual clearance between said discharge path interrupters. 
     
     
       14. A method of producing a ceramic insulator for a vacuum interrupter,
 the ceramic insulator having a base body extending along a longitudinal extent and forming a cavity in the longitudinal extent; 
 the cavity being formed with a first opening on a first side of the longitudinal extent and with a second opening on a second side of the longitudinal extent; 
 the first and second openings being sealed in a gas-tight manner by appropriate connecting devices, and wherein the sealed first opening is configured for guiding at least one fixed contact into the cavity, and the sealed second opening is configured for guiding at least one moving contact into the cavity; 
 the method comprising: 
 forming on an inner side of the cavity of the ceramic insulator, one or more electrically conductive structures, extending perpendicularly to the longitudinal extent of the ceramic insulator, the one or more electrically conductive structures having an annular and/or convex structure, the electrically conductive structures being formed by a method selected from the group consisting of sputtering, vapor deposition, spraying, chemical deposition and printing; and 
 thereby forming the electrically conductive structures to either function directly as electrically conductive discharge path interrupters, or to support the electrically conductive discharge path interrupters applied to the structures, the electrically conductive discharge path interrupters disposed with a clearance of between 5 mm and 50 mm therebetween. 
 
     
     
       15. The method according to  claim 14 , which comprises forming the electrically conductive discharge path interrupters by one or more methods selected from the group consisting of galvanic methods, sputtering, vapor deposition, spraying methods, chemical deposition methods and printing methods applied to the structures. 
     
     
       16. The method according to  claim 14 , which comprises forming the electrically conductive discharge path interrupters by securing metallic elements as electrically conductive discharge path interrupters to the structures by soldering. 
     
     
       17. The method according to  claim 14 , which comprises securing metallic annular elements to the structures.